English

In English this week, we have been planning a piece of poetry based on the witches prophesy in Macbeth. We have looked at similes, metaphors and personification, and the children looked at a range of poetry and spotted as many poetic features as they could. They then created their own mind map of ideas that would create strong imagery for the reader, ready to start drafting their poems next week.

We also began looking at colons, semi-colons and dashes, and when to use which in our writing. We found this quite challenging, and will continue practising this next week.

Maths

We have had another good week learning about fractions in maths. We started the week adding fractions with the same denominator (Year 5), and adding fractions with denominators that are multiples of each other (Year 6). The children are getting good at giving fractions a common denominator in order to compare them, add or subtract them. We then moved on to adding mixed numbers and showing our calculations as bar models, and then as jumps on a number line. The children have done really well with this and most feel confident in this area.

Science

In Science, we are reaching the end of evolution and inheritance unit, and the children began planning their own ‘Just so’ story, based on the stories by Rudyard Kipling. They each chose an animal, and then had to research a physical characteristic of that animal and create a fictional story explaining how the animal got that physical characteristic. They are in the midst of writing their final versions, and we hope to finish these off next week.

D.T

In D.T this week the children evaluated the bread rolls that they made before half term. They described the appearance, taste and texture of their rolls, what they liked and disliked, and what they would do differently if they were making them again.

R.E

In R.E this week, we have continued our topic of Incarnation. The children have been discussing how important Jesus is to Christians. They discussed all the different names that Jesus is known by, and recorded these names and all the different qualities that support these names.

P.E

In P.E this week, the children continued their football sessions with Mr Steed on the field.  As part of the NSPCC ‘Buddy’s Big Work Out’, the children have decided to have a sponsored dodgeball tournament . We will be doing this in next week’s PE session.

English

We began this week in English with an exciting invitation to a feast held by Lady Macbeth in the Great Hall. We all sat down to enjoy food and drink when Macbeth (Mrs J), began to act very strangely… We discussed what was happening to Macbeth and decided that all of his crimes were causing him to become insane. We then planned, drafted and published an essay based on how the insanity of Macbeth becomes more and more apparent as the story goes on. The children worked extremely hard on these and should be very proud of the fantastic writing they produced.

We also learned about the active and passive voice in our GPS session, and the children converted sentences from active to passive.

Maths

We began a new unit on fractions this week. The children began the week by using bar models to simplify fractions, and show equivalent fractions using bar models. Year 6 then moved on to converting mixed numbers and improper fractions, and creating addition and subtraction number sentences showing these. Year 5 compared fractions by converting them so that they have a common denominator.

Science

We have continued with our topic of Evolution and Inheritance this week. We looked at human evolution, and where Scientists discovered what they know about human evolution. We looked at an image of the earliest fossil that showed Bipedal walking, and talked about the advantages of humans evolving to walk on two feet. The children then investigated the evolution of flight, and how Cladograms can be used to show evolutionary relationships. They then created their own cladograms showing the relationships between different living organisms by considering their shared characteristics.

R.E

In R.E this week, we introduced our new topic which is ‘The Big Story’ in Christianity. This week, we looked at what the Old Testament said about Jesus. The children wrote their own section of the Old Testament and the class created an amazing mind map of words and phrases to describe Jesus.

P.E

In P.E this week, the children began the unit of football with Mr Steed. Next week, please can all children bring in footwear suitable for wearing on the school field. The children have also been asked as part of next week’s PE session to consider different types of dancing ready for our dance unit with Mrs J.

Please could all Class 5 children come to school on Friday wearing a black outfit? This can be black leggings/trousers and a black tshirt/jumper, or a black skirt and black tights.  If you don’t have any black clothing then dark grey or navy is fine.  We would be grateful if the children could bring their school polo-shirt and jumper/cardigan to change into after the assembly.

We are really looking forward to Friday and hopefully we will see you there!

Miss Carr and Mrs J

English

In English we began the week by publishing our newspaper articles. Most of the children are now really confident with using formal and informal language in their writing. We then moved on to writing a soliloquy from Macbeth, showing his dilemma about whether or not to kill his friend Banquo in order to stay on the throne. The children came up with some amazingly vivid descriptions, and then we redrafted these soliloquys making sure that our punctuation and cohesion was just as good as our language.

Maths

In maths this week we began the week by looking at square and cube numbers. Year 5 were solving some puzzles, also using their knowledge of factors and multiples. Year 6 were applying their skills to solving problems. We then moved on to order of operations (Year 6), and following ‘BIDMAS’ in order to find the correct solution to problems. They really enjoyed this and became confident in applying this method. Year 5 concentrated on mental arithmetic for the end of the week, and how to reorder calculations in order to make them easier to solve in their heads.

D.T

In D.T this week, the children created their final bread roll designs. They have all chosen a type of flour, a flavouring, and a shape for their rolls. They then wrote the list of ingredients they would need and the method they will follow. We will be baking these next week so check back for photos!

R.E

In R.E, we recapped on the first of the five pillars of Islam; Shahadah. We discussed the declaration of faith, and what Muslims believe. The children then discussed and recorded their own personal beliefs in all aspects of their lives.

P.E

In P.E this week, we continued to develop our routines using counter balance and counter tension. The children also included benches and mats in their routines, which were brilliant! They have also continued basketball with Mr Bebb.

History

In history this week, we had a very exciting afternoon working out how the Ancient Egyptians built the pyramids. We experimented using an upturned table with children sitting on it, and ropes. The children had to come up with a system for moving the table smoothly and easily. We then watched a video of a pyramid worker set in Ancient Egypt, and ordered the different steps for building a pyramid.